Exploring the fascinating relationship between two of North America’s greatest beverage traditions: Kentucky Bourbon and fine California wine.
Already passionate about wine, craving innovation and searching for ideas to create a totally new product, Trevor Sheehan became a winemaker in 2009. One day he came-up with the original idea of using the interaction of wine and Bourbon as a unique process where each would be aged in the other one’s casks.
Using a selection of fruit sourced from some of California’s most notable wine regions, the grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness before being fermented in stainless steel. This process is followed by 12 months of aging in a combination of French and American oak barrels. Finally, the wine is then aged another 90 days in Kentucky Bourbon casks used only once previously.
Meanwhile, high quality Kentucky Bourbon (from one of the state’s top distilleries who’s name is kept secret), is aged for three years in charred new American oak barrels and then transferred into the same French oak wine barrels where the wine (a blend of Cabernet, Malbec and Petit Verdot) was initially matured. At this point, the wine is re-transferred into the same Bourbon barrels and that’s where the magic occurs.
The goal was to create a beverage bolder and more flavorful than its individual components. The synergies between fire, oak spice, sunlight, and terroir just work and the tagline says it all: “A bold beverage for serious palates, meshing two great tastes that taste great together.”
Wine and Bourbon are undeniably two flavor profiles that compliment each other. A raw complexity and sophistication often unmatched in the individual beverages can be found in their synergy; this concept is the core of Barrel Bomb’s strength, exhibiting heavy and rich flavors of vanilla, licorice and oak.
Recommended pairings: Beef, Lamb, Poultry.
Insider’s hint: Available on the wine list at Stout’s Signature at The Tobin Center.
Wine related questions can be addressed directly to me at: Olivierthewineguy@ gmail.com.
Until next time … Cheers!
OLIVIER J. BOURGOIN
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